I’m a firm believer that very few things in life are random and that most things come to us in the order that we’re ready to receive them. Ideas, events, people, and places often make themselves known at the oddest times, making absolutely no sense and connecting to literally nothing, until all of the sudden, it all comes together. Oprah would call it a “light bulb moment.” Some would call it an inspiration or a revelation. Whatever term you’d like to use, nothing matches that feeling, when you finally “get it.” Makes you feel like you’ve got the world by the tail. One of my light bulb experiences unknowingly started a couple of years ago, when I was in Indianapolis with the family and we stopped at a restaurant for a bite to eat. This particular eatery was a steakhouse that had a typical Western flair to it, adorned with branding irons, lassos, and the like. Quirky little quotes were painted on the walls and one in particular caught my attention. It said, “There will always be a frontier where there is an open hand and a willing mind.” Below it was the author’s name, Charles Kettering. I thought it was cool because it had the word “frontier” in it, so I grabbed the nearest napkin, jotted it down, crammed it into my purse and forgot about it. A few days later at school, I found it while rummaging around for lunch money and put it in the top drawer of my desk, again forgotten. Fast forward, to the new school year. I decided that it might be time to clean out my desk drawer and that crumpled napkin once again made itself known and I realized that I had to do something with that quote. I had been working on this website and decided put it on the homepage, capitalizing “Frontier” to make it applicable to our school. As I typed it in a red italicized font, I felt it was quite appropriate for our school corporation. “An open hand and a willing mind....” really spoke to our future. It was then that I wondered....Who is Charles Kettering, and what in the world prompted him to make this statement? As we say at our house, “That’s worth a Google!” and I did. Wow! I learned some amazing things! To begin, he was a Buckeye, just like me. Ohio roots always get my attention. Through my research, I learned that Kettering (1876-1958) was an inventor, businessman, engineer, and held a mere 186 patents. That’s impressive! His name is associated with companies that are familiar to all of us.....Cadillac, National Cash Register, DELCO, DuPont, and General Motors, just to name a few. He is the namesake for Kettering, Ohio, and Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, because he believed that American industrial research techniques could be applied to cancer research. Your automatic start ignition and lighting system for your car wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Kettering. He also patented Freon (used in our refrigerator and air conditioning systems) and developed the incubator for premature infants. This list goes on and on. Kettering definitely had an open hand and a willing mind and look what he accomplished. As I continued to read, I was especially struck by one critical piece of his story. Charles Kettering had a handicap. He suffered his entire life with myopia and chronically inflamed eyes. While in college, his roommates protected his sight from deteriorating even further by reading each day’s lessons out loud to him at night. He suffered with this his entire life, yet still managed to accomplish far more that the average citizen. We have a lot to learn from this man, who humbly kept “an open hand and a willing mind”, and our lives are better because of it. This has made me wonder what we can do with our own “Frontier” as we strive to make it a better place for our students, our children, and those who will come after us. Something to think about...... So I guess there was a reason that I copied that quote onto a paper napkin a few years ago, and didn’t stumble across it until now. At the time, I didn’t “get it.” It didn’t really didn’t mean anything to me except the word “frontier” that caught my eye. Nonetheless, those words insisted on following me until I was ready for them. Now with the changes that our schools are facing, and the growth that we’re directed to take, they make all the sense in the world. It’s up to us where we go from here. A dedicated community and diligent Frontier staff will undoubtedly lead us down paths of discovery and success....with an open hand and a willing mind.

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Tami Stevenson is the Librarian Media Specialist for Frontier School Corporation.